United Kingdom Elgar: Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), London Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London, 26.11.2025. (AV-E)
Elgar – In the South (Alassio); Sea Pictures; Sospiri; Enigma Variations
David Burke, Chief Executive of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, announced that this concert was given in celebration of The Duke of Kent’s 90th Birthday and to the 45 years of his Patronage of the LPO; as well as marking the 75th anniversary of the Elgar Society, some of whose members were in attendance in a jam-packed Royal Festival Hall.
The LPO’s all-Elgar programme opened with an exquisitely exuberant and life-affirming rendition of Elgar’s In the South under the LPO’s principal conductor, Edward Gardner.
In the South is a masterpiece in orchestration and should be played much more often than it is as it is still rarely performed in the UK and even less abroad. The orchestration is often dubiously dubbed as (Richard) ‘Straussian’; and yet one could just as well state that Ein Heldenleben and Don Juan are ‘Elgarian’; and Alassio is far more of a ‘symphonic poem’, than ‘concert overture’. This majestic music was ‘tailor made’ for this magnificent orchestra who played it with verve and aplomb, as one would expect from the UK’s premier orchestra.
Gardner perfectly paced and integrated seamlessly the sections of the score into a life-pulsating and heart-throbbing organic whole. The ‘Canto popolare’ for viola solo of Benjamin Roskams bought tears to my eyes in the potently poignant ‘pastoral’ section; I have never ever heard this so intimately played. The outbursts from timpani, bass drum and brass were perfectly punctuated and incredibly intense throughout.
I may very well be in a minority of one, but I found mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor far too ‘matronly’ for Elgar’s evocative Sea Pictures. For sure, she had perfect projection and an assured articulation and sung each song with its own appropriate manner of mood, but the voice itself was far too heavy and lacked distinction, and with it, presence. There was something missing; for the notes were all there; but where was she? I find Where Corals Lie to be the finest song of the cycle; but Taylor simply sounded disinterestedly detached here and lacked the elusive eloquence that Dame Janet Baker brought to it. In The Swimmer, she was in deep water and out of her depth and her Titanic voice sunk, despite all its vocalised volume for volume’s sake.
Yet the buoyant baton of Gardner galvanised the ‘voices’ of the LPO, who were ‘doing’ far more than merely ‘accompanying’ Taylor: for it was those voices of the orchestra that truly ‘sung’ out in this masterpiece of orchestration.
Sospiri (Italian for sighs) opened the second half and was given a heart-felt performance played with a melting melancholia and conducted with loving care; we need to hear this seldom played adorable adagio much more often in concert.
What was so intriguing about Gardner’s revealing reading of the Enigma Variations was presenting the portraits in a new light with a chamber-music intimacy and less flashy and bombastic than often heard at the BBC Proms. For Gardner painted each portrait as a ‘miniaturist’ painter would with an astonishing attention to the details, with nuance, subtlety and sensitivity, as if conducting (painting) each character for the first time. The concluding bars with organ wonderfully wound up this paradigm performance with Gardner demonstrating what a debonair and elegant ‘Elgarian’ he is, in the ‘LPO Elgar Tradition’ of Boult and Solti.
This enthusiastically received and well-balanced programme was filmed for streaming on Marquee TV. Do catch it if you can.
Alexander Verney-Elliott
Featured Image: The London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner © Mark Allan